Alessandro Michele has just been appointed Valentino’s next creative director, starting April 2024. After over two decades at the iconic house of Gucci, the Italian designer will display his signature aesthetic and flair at the head of another internationally acclaimed luxury label.
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Speaking on his forthcoming challenge, Michele thanked the company’s chairman, Egyptian businessman Rachid Mohamed Rachid, in a released statement, saying “His trust is a gift of the soul that I will try to cherish with my work and total devotion.” He also expressed “heartfelt gratitude” for the 69-year-old investor for this “irreplicable occasion,” acknowledging his key role in his decision-making process.
“It’s an incredible honor for me to be welcomed at Maison Valentino. I feel the immense joy and the huge responsibility to join a Maison de Couture that has the word ‘beauty’ carved on a collective story, made of distinctive elegance, refinement, and extreme grace,” he also shared.
In turn, the Alexandria-born tycoon praised Valentino’s latest addition for his “exceptional talent,” claiming that under his spell, “a new page of excellence and endless beauty is ready to be written in the (brand’s) history”. “I strongly believe that with his unique creativity and sensibility, he will continue the elevation of the brand’s everlasting heritage and unique Italian Maison de Couture identity,” Rachid also said.
With a debut first collection set to be presented during the Spring 2025 Ready-to-Wear season during Paris Fashion Week, everyone seems to wonder how the ex-Gucci designer will steer the boat after Pierpaolo Piccioli’s steady hand behind Valentino’s creative reins for the past 25-years. Opening a new chapter in the brand’s books, anticipation mounts and speculation grows on whether Michele will experience the same levels of success as during his tenure at Gucci. In his time, many credit him for being behind his former employer’s renaissance, catapulting them back to the forefront of present-day fashion conversations and bringing a renewed sense of vitality to the age-old label.
